11 jan

International Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi discussed the Syrian crisis Friday with top US and Russian officials in the UN headquarters in Geneva.
Brahimi, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and US Undersecretary of State William Burns met Friday but did not make any statement.

Many think the events in Syria are nearing the climax. The West and Israel are openly talking about the ”endgame” soon to come. Any peace initiatives put forward by Bashar Assad are flatly refused from the start, like the one he came up with at the beginning of 2013. The only thing demanded is his resignation and transfer of power to the opposition that enjoys the Western support. The indications of an imminent foreign intervention are becoming more tangible.

In separate interviews with the Voice of Russia broadcast on Thursday, a host of experts mentioned a new round of information warfare against Bashar Assad and a possible new provocation against Russia.
They commented on information about Western and Middle Eastern special services recruiting a group of those who have Slavic features to play a role of Russian “mercenaries” allegedly captured by Syrian opposition fighters.
Russian media quoted a well-informed anonymous source as saying that “actors” are being selected in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. They all must handle guns and be in the know about anti-aircraft systems. According to a script, they should recognize their being recruited by Russian special services with the aim of supporting the army of Bashar Assad. Also, they ought to say that they have allegedly been delivered to Syria by warships.
According to the source, all this will be filmed in Turkey or Jordan, where fake demolished Syrian towns have already been built in the form of large-scale theatrical scenery.
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The goal of video clips about Russian “mercenaries” in Syria is to save face of those who is backing the Syrian opposition’s fight against Bashar Assad, says Semyon Bagdasarov of the Moscow-based Center for Analytical Studies.

The countries that side with the Syrian opposition are preparing a provocation involving Slav mercenaries in a bid to deprive Russia of its role of mediator in the talks between the Bashar al-Assad government and the opposition, a military-diplomatic source has told reporters in Moscow.
According to the source, the interested States of the West and the Middle East are recruiting Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens who should play the role of Russian “mercenaries”, allegedly fighting for al-Assad.
Under the scenario, they will be taken prisoner by rebel fighters of the so-called Free Syrian Army and will then testify on camera.
Plots to that end are due to be filmed in Turkey and Jordan, where large-scale scenery of allegedly destroyed Syrian cities has long since been built and has been actively used for misinformation purposes.
This will enable the interested nations to create the necessary conditions for overthrowing al-Assad.

Syrian troops repelled an attack by militants on a major air base called Taftanaze in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Soldiers defending this important strategic object, were able to inflict heavy losses and then cause the terrorists to run, according to the Syrian news agency SANA.

Russia’s Black Sea, Baltic, Northern and Pacific fleets are going to stage large-scale military maneuvers in the Black and Mediterranean seas off the Syrian coast, the country’s Defense Ministry announced Friday.

The most nefarious aspect of UW – aside from the obvious violations of international law pertaining to sovereignty, territorial integrity and loss of human life/property, etc – is the proactive and aggressive effort to psychologically sway a population against its government. It is at this entry point where UW fails every American test of “values.”
The Arab Intifadas of 2011 provided a unique opportunity – amidst regional and sometimes domestic chaos – to ramp up UW activities in “hostile” states, whether or not populations sought regime change. Prime examples are Iran, Syria and Libya – all of which have been UW targets in the past year, at different levels of infiltration and with markedly different results.